Photo Gallery: ATFP Gala 2013

International/US Economic Development Aid

A group of prominent experts identified a number of key challenges facing the Gaza Strip and its Palestinian residents, and ways to address them, at a briefing jointly hosted by the American Task Force on Palestine (

Wednesday 13th March, the World Bank transferred $60.5 million to the Palestinian Authority from the Palestinian Reform and Development Plan Trust Fund (PRDP-MDTF), a multi-donor budget support mechanism administered by the Bank, said a press release by World Bank.
The statement said the funds contributed by the governments of the United Kingdom and Norway will help support the urgent budget needs of the PA, providing inter alia support for education, health care and other vital social services for the Palestinian people and for the economic reforms currently underway.

The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on Tuesday called for an immediate international action to stop Israeli restrictions on Palestinian economy.
This call came after the World Bank issued a report warning that the continued deterioration of the Palestinian economy "will have lasting and costly implications for economic competitiveness and social cohesion."

Israeli closures and restrictions are causing lasting damage to the competitiveness of the Palestinian economy, the World Bank said Tuesday.
Israeli-imposed economic restrictions continue to constrain sustainable economic growth, a situation that is unlikely to change without political progress, according to the World Bank's latest report.
The economic monitoring report warns that the Palestinian economy is in danger of losing its capacity in the global market.

Israeli deterrence has so far successfully kept Hamas from violating the cease-fire reached after an eight-day round of violence in November, but a second factor might also be playing a role in upholding the unprecedented calm along the Gaza-Israel border: economics.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit in Cairo this week will recommend its members donate to a financial "safety net" for Palestine, according to a draft statement ahead of the conference.
At a preparatory meeting of senior officials on Sunday, a statement was prepared calling on Islamic nations to donate to Palestine under the OIC banner.
The funds will go towards Palestine's strategic plan to develop the city of Jerusalem, which was approved by the group in August 2012, according to the statement published on PA news site Wafa.